An Update On The U-Haul Litigation

We have written about the safety problems concerning U-Haul trailers in previous issues. Now, yet another death has occurred, most likely caused by a U-Haul trailer fishtailing and causing the towing vehicle to lose control. While rollovers are the most likely result, the latest U-Haul fatality caused the towing vehicle to cross an Interstate median and collide head-on with an 18 wheeler. The driver was killed instantly. Unfortunately, the driver’s son was following her and witnessed the gruesome death of his mother.

We have represented a number of families against U-Haul International. All of the suits involved a U-Haul being towed by a Ford Explorer or a similar sized SUV. The latest case we are investigating involved a Crossover SUV, which are the smallest SUV’s manufactured. As discussed previously, even a Ford Explorer or the largest SUV cannot control a fishtailing, loaded trailer. Common sense dictates that if the largest SUV’s are not heavy enough to control a swaying, loaded U-Haul trailer, the smallest SUV’s certainly lack the adequate weight to control a swaying, loaded U-Haul trailer.

Unless they have changed their policies, U-Haul’s competitors only allow customers to pull their trailers if they are driving one of the company moving trucks. U-Haul’s reluctance to follow suit will continue to result in accidents leading to property damage, physical injuries and deaths. U-Haul trailers being towed by passenger vehicles pose a threat, not only to those driving the towing vehicle, but also to those driving on the road in close proximity. Our latest case is compounded by the fact that a U-Haul dealer actually connected the trailer to the Crossover SUV.

In summary, U-Haul allows its customers to pull its trailers with lesser weighted towing vehicles. U-Haul fails to warn its customers about the risks involved. And finally, U-Haul will even attach its trailers to these small vehicles giving the customer a false sense of security. As long as these practices continue, U-Haul trailers will continue to cause accidents and deaths on our roads. If you want additional information, please contact Kendall Dunson, who handles these cases for our firm, at 800-898-2034 or by email at Kendall.Dunson@beasleyallen.com.